SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Coming back from a 16-point deficit like Shawnee State did in defeating No. 5-ranked Georgetown is difficult in and of itself.
However, the Bears had 14 minutes to wipe that deficit off that board.
In Saturday’s non-conference contest against the (RV) Indiana South-Bend Titans, Shawnee State trailed by a two-possession (72-67) margin with 32 seconds remaining in a dogfight where the Bears trailed by as many as eight points early in the second half.
Shawnee State’s sharpshooters, however, were determined to make sure that the Bears left South Bend with a resounding victory — as the Bears, which shot a highly-proficient 11-of-27 from three-point range, made their last two long-range connections count at the most critical times.
With 17 seconds left to play, Elkin Ramirez rattled in a three-pointer from the left side to bring the Bears to within a 72-70 gap.
Four seconds later, the Bears fouled Indiana-South Bend’s Terry Ford to send the senior guard to the free-throw line — as Shawnee State attempted to potentially extend the contest to an overtime session.
However, Ford missed the front end of the one-and-one opportunity — and that miss proved to be all Shawnee State veteran guard Tre Beard needed.
Coming off the left corner, Beard rotated over to the left wing — as Ramirez made the pass to the Chillicothe native.
With open space from 25 feet, Beard hit nothing but the bottom of the net for the game-winning three-pointer with 1.7 seconds left — lifting Shawnee State to yet another thrilling victory, as the Bears toppled (RV) Indiana-South Bend by a 73-72 count.
“At the end of the day, we have some guys who have been battle-tested and been through the fire,” Shawnee State first-year head coach Michael Hunter said. “Tre Beard — National Champion. Then I have two older guys in Tyreke Johnson and John Dawson who have been champions at various levels. John was a four-time state champion (at Huntington High School in West Virginia), and Tyreke won back-to-back National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Regional Tournaments to go to nationals at Lakeland Community College. They’re battle-tested, and it really shows.”
Tale of the Tape
It was yet another gritty win for Hunter’s crew, which won their second consecutive game over a unit receiving votes or higher in the NAIA Men’s Basketball Coaches Preseason Poll — by again winning the so-called ‘little things.’
While Shawnee State struggled to an 8-of-16 mark at the free-throw line, the Bears outperformed Indiana-South Bend in essentially every additional category.
They racked up 15 assists on 27 made baskets, en route to a 27-of-62 shooting mark from the field (43.5-percent), and collected 42 rebounds to IU-South Bend’s 38.
Defensively, Shawnee State held IU-South Bend to a 29-of-68 mark from the field for a 42.6-percent shooting clip — nearly four-percent below the Titans’ average percentage coming in.
The Bears also held the Titans to their lowest three-point field goals attempted (18), their lowest three-point field goals made (four), and their lowest three-point field-goal percentage (22.2 percent) in their six games this season.
Scott Cooper’s group had come in shooting 41-of-99 (41.4 percent) from deep.
Germain good as gold
Despite having to sit for the final 12 minutes of the first half due to early foul trouble, Keith Germain overcame those early issues to post another fantastic performance.
After posting 12 points in the opening half on 6-of-8 shooting in just eight minutes, Germain was clutch inside again — as the senior forward added in nine points and five rebounds in the second half.
He posted a game-high 21 points, and matched a team-high with seven rebounds, on an 8-of-12 shooting performance from the floor.
Through the season’s first four games, Germain is averaging 24.5 points, 7.8 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per, while shooting 58.6-percent from the field — as the Fort Lauderdale, Fla. native continues to produce at an all-conference, and potentially higher, level.
“If he doesn’t get into foul trouble, he might have went for 35, if he had the opportunity.” Hunter said. “We were able to hold the fort down and did a good job while he was on the bench. We have pretty good depth, and we were able to really compete with two of our freshmen in Tony Webb and Damon Charles while Keith was in foul trouble.”
Beard, Ramirez fill it up with
clutch shooting late, strong ball control
Beard and Ramirez, who have been steady throughout the season for Shawnee State, were efficient long before the waning moments of the contest themselves.
Over the second half of play, the duo combined to go 5-of-6 from beyond the arc — and supplied 17 of the Bears’ 39 second-half tallies in the process.
For the game, they combined to go 8-of-17 from the floor and 6-of-14 from three-point range, with Beard himself going 5-of-9 from the field and 3-of-6 from long distance.
However, as good as the pair was shooting the basketball, the duo was just as good taking care of it — as Beard and Ramirez combined for eight assists to just one turnover in Saturday’s victory.
“We’re able to put two to three really good shooters on the floor at one time, and that really spreads things out where they’ve got to chase these guys around,” Hunter said. “That opened up driving lanes where our offense flows smoothly, and looks much different than flowing all inside or all outside.”
Beard, in particular, had five assists to no turnovers — for the second consecutive game.
“Tre can do it all,” Hunter said, when asked about Beard. “His shot wasn’t falling a couple of games ago, but now it is, and that just makes him more of a threat than he already is.”
Lumsden provides
physical toughness inside
It was a big week for J.R. Lumsden — on and off the basketball court.
After starting in Shawnee State’s victory over Georgetown on Tuesday evening, the junior forward was selected to participate in the highly-competitive Ohio Export Internship program through the Ohio Department of Development.
Then, as a key figure in Saturday’s victory, Lumsden showed off the lunch pail mentality that the Toledo product has displayed on and off the court — posting seven points and seven rebounds against IU-South Bend, including five of the Bears’ 13 offensive rebounds in the win.
“We challenged J.R. after the last game,” Hunter said. “He left some shots around the rim, and we challenged him. What I appreciated was he didn’t take that personally. He came in there and really tried to be extra-aggressive, and it worked out for him. Although he didn’t dominate the stat sheet, he dominated the game for us. He did everything he needed to do to help us get the win.”
Johnson provides
spark off bench
Looking to experiment with rotations, Hunter utilized the 6-6 guard Johnson as his first guy off the bench — and the junior delivered in a big way.
Down by a 29-21 margin with 5:29 to play in the opening half, Johnson and A.J. Belton converted back-to-back and-one opportunities — as part of a crucial 8-0 run that allowed the Bears to rally back and tie the score at 29-all two minutes and 10 seconds later.
Johnson ultimately finished with 10 points, three rebounds and two assists on 3-of-6 shooting from the field.
“We were looking to try something different and give our bench more of a scoring punch, while at the same time, getting good bench play,” Hunter said. “It was a pretty even exchange. It was a little something different to start, but we were just trying to find something that we could build off of to help us grow further as a team.”
Additional
Shawnee State big men Charles and Tony Webb Jr. supplied excellent activity for the Bears in the win.
Charles scored five consecutive points to help Shawnee State take a 7-6 lead with 16:40 to play in the opening half, and also added in five rebounds for the contest.
Webb showcased his athleticism and soft touch throughout his 18 minutes of action — en route to five points on his own accord.
Belton’s and-one with 3:19 to play in the first half rounded out the scoring for SSU.
With the victory, the Bears (2-2) will turn their attention toward preparing for The Show in Kingsport, Tenn. — where two contests in Milligan and Florida Memorial await them.
The contests are set for Friday at 2:30 p.m. and Saturday at 6 p.m., respectively.
“That’s a huge two-game swing for us,” Hunter said. “Right now, we’re concentrating on Milligan with them being up first. That’s a tough test. They’re a big, physical team from a good conference, and we’re just looking to go down there and compete with a national championship-level effort.”
For more information on SSU Bears Athletics, please visit www.ssubears.com — or visit the X and Facebook pages at https://twitter.com/SSUBears and https://www.facebook.com/SSUBears.
For more information on how to join the SSU Bear Club, or for sponsorship of specific SSU players or events, please visit https://givetossu.com/bear-club and https://givetossu.com/sponsorthebears.
